Rob Howley has named the Wales team to take on Scotland this weekend, with George North returning in place of Alex Cuthbert.
WALES TEAM TO PLAY SCOTLAND:
Leigh Halfpenny (Toulon) (68 Caps)
George North (Northampton Saints) (66 Caps)
Jonathan Davies (Scarlets) (61 Caps)
Scott Williams (Scarlets) (43 Caps)
Liam Williams (Scarlets) (40 Caps)
Dan Biggar (Ospreys) (53 Caps)
Rhys Webb (Ospreys) (25 Caps)
Rob Evans (Scarlets) (14 Caps)
Ken Owens (Scarlets) (47 Caps)
Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs) (19 Caps)
Jake Ball (Scarlets) (23 Caps)
Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys)(107 Caps) (CAPTAIN)
Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues) (71 Caps)
Justin Tipuric (Ospreys) (48 Caps)
Ross Moriarty (Gloucester Rugby) (14 Caps)
Replacements:
Scott Baldwin (Ospreys) (30 Caps)
Nicky Smith (Ospreys) (9 Caps)
Samson Lee (Scarlets) (31 Caps)
Luke Charteris (Bath) (71 Caps)
Taulupe Faletau (Bath) (63 Caps)
Gareth Davies (Scarlets) (23 Caps)
Sam Davies (Ospreys) (4 Caps)
Jamie Roberts (Harlequins) (88 Caps)
I think the back row selection is poor. Each player individually last week was rightly lauded for their performance, but the balance of that back row is terrible. Without a decent ball carrier in there in the form of Faletau England didn’t have too much trouble with the Welsh attack last week. In fact the score was some brilliance between Webb and Williams, nothing to do with a sustained structured strong attack from Wales.
Two reasons for this in my mind. They lacked ball carries in the pack. And Biggar distribution and manipulation of a back line is Championship standard not test level.
Personally I’d drop Tipuric. Really harsh but Warburton back at 7 with Moriarty at 6 would be a much better balanced team.
I wonder if Faletau is still not quite full fit? A very good point about the ball carrying and their back row balance. Moriarty, Warburton and Faletau would be much better.
I didn’t see the Bath game, but I’m sure he started and played most of it?
Maybe that is why, but I do think Wales may struggle in that area again.
Fitness wise, Faletau looked pretty much there for Bath in the game against Quins, carried and supported well and if memory serves, I think did the full 80
totally agree, Tipuric’s skills set is almost a luxury, it’s a nice to have but not nearly as important as tackling, rucking and ball carrying. He is however a great addition with 20 minutes to go against tired legs.
One thing’s for sure, this should be a great match. It will be interesting to see how Scotland play without Laidlaw and how Wales try to exploit the inexperience of Price. On paper you would say Wales should win this match. They have the experience and the personnel, but I think they might come undone defensively by Scotlands dangerous back three.
Scotland badly missed Laidlaw when he went off last week and I think they will again. He is not the quickest or most exciting scrum half but his ability to boss a pack and keep a team playing to a plan is outstanding. I thought Faletau was fairly ordinary for Bath and can understand why he is on the bench. He may be there in the hope that he can “do a Haskell” off the bench and add go forward in the last half hour, but personally I have never thought he is quite as good as the press would have us believe. I think the Welsh back row will cope comfortably with the Scots now that Strauss is out, particularly if Warburton is allowed to spend half his afternoon unpenalised at the side of the ruck winning turnover ball as he was last week.
Personally I hope that Price has the game of his life . I would love to see Scotland get another win, but as you say without Strauss and Laidlaw it will be tough. Waiting to see who is in the Scotland squad.
Scotland are going to win this one pretty convincingly- Scotland to win by 24
Dream on ….
I think Moriaty is Wales best player right now but Falatau was their best player for the last few years, so they need to find a place for both. The wing selection is obvious, I think they would rather have North with one leg than Cuthbert